Andy Herod

David Hamilton

1. What do you think Athens-Clarke County’s growth issues will be in the next ten years?

Population growth is the number one issue. The Census predicts that by 2015 we will reach a population of 111,000, 17.9% more than our 2005 population; this will place stress on a number of things, but particularly our environment. We cannot stop people coming to Athens, but we must plan wisely for their arrival.

1) We must secure water and landfill resources. This will require a regional approach, involving perhaps construction of a regional reservoir, together with enforcing water conservation measures. (ACC is already negotiating a site for a landfill). Of course, the question with a reservoir is where to put it. I do not favor one proposed location near Barnett Shoals Rd, as this site has important archeological treasures dating back to the colonial era and beyond. But we will have to get serious in talking with surrounding governments. There is certainly a danger that in funding a reservoir – perhaps through bonds – we may actually encourage growth to pay it off, which gets us back to where we started. So, we must balance this carefully.

2) Protecting the Greenbelt, stream buffers, and tree canopy. Growing population should not mean sprawling into our Greenbelt. We must concentrate our development so that we can accommodate the population growth which will come but so that we can also preserve our environmental resources, which are crucial drivers of our local economy (it is our quality of life that attracts people here). In order to protect the Greenbelt we must have a workable Transferable Development Rights program. We must use both regulation to limit development but also provide mechanisms whereby AR land-owners can realize an economic return from their land, thereby providing an incentive to retain its rural character. TDRs would certainly do this, but there are other ways too. For instance, I would be interested in encouraging ACC to help rural landowners develop and market economic activities – high-end organic farming (perhaps selling produce to the ACC School District), rural tourism, rural handicraft activities, etc.

3) Abiding by the principles of new urbanism. Making sure housing developments are dense and well served by various transportation options is not only good environmentally (preventing suburban sprawl) but also saves us money in service provision to low density developments. By saving such public funds we have more tax dollars left over to fund Greenbelt protection, expanded mass transit options, etc.

4) Growing population will require employment. We must stimulate economic development by both encouraging small businesses and attracting clean jobs into the community. We must also have a more extensive definition of economic development than simply “paid employment” (e.g., by encouraging “Local Economic Trading Systems”; see # 3 below). Finally, we must include the cost of “negative externalities” (e.g., the cost of runoff) when we consider approving new developments – these are typically ignored in the economic calculations concerning private land-use development. I do not accept the argument that either we have jobs or we save the environment, since our environment is a vital economic resource.

When assessing our future growth issues, we need to look at the multi-county region as a whole. Athens and UGA are the economic engines that drive the booming growth in Madison, Oconee, Jackson, Barrow and Oglethorpe counties. Proximity to the employment, entertainment and services available in a dynamic university town like Athens has stimulated the growth of outlying communities. Cooperation with adjoining regional governments will be essential to managing the impact of increased development on our infrastructure and our environmental and cultural resources.

Presently, the availability of land (limited in smaller Clarke County) and a less restrictive development culture has spurred the growth of “bedroom communities” in adjoining areas. As this growth has progressed, the impact on our infrastructure has been immediately apparent. Residents of the region, as well as Athens growing population, are increasingly seeking services within the regional hub of Athens-Clarke. We can choose to handle this demand in one of three ways.

• Allow growth to proceed limited only by the constraints of current zoning, reactively dealing with the significant impact of that growth on our quality of life.
• Shut off growth by heavily restricting development. This can drive growth across county lines, leaving us to still deal with increased demands on our infrastructure, but losing the economic benefits of managed development. Epps Bridge Parkway is a present example – we are forced to deal with the environmental impact of that growth, with limited direct economic benefit.
• Manage and direct a process of smart growth, acknowledging that Athens-Clarke County is the economic and cultural hub of the region and encouraging controlled growth in a manner consistent with a long-term vision developed by the community.

Development will always follow where there is profit to be made. Knowing this fact leaves option three as the obvious choice for the needs of our immediate community. We have the opportunity to clearly state what type of growth our community requires and address how best to manage that growth through the Comprehensive Land-Use Plan process. Negligence of this process will leave us stuck with the inevitable impact and none of the benefit.

2. What changes, if any, would you like to see in the Athens-Clarke County Comprehensive Land Use Plan to address these issues?

We should encourage development to focus in a number of geographical “growth pole” areas around the urban core which can be designed in such a way through zoning and design standards to be hubs of public transportation, service (water, sewer) provision, and commercial development. They can be, in effect, the 21 st century equivalent of the 19 th century streetcar suburbs. Such a strategy will limit suburban sprawl into the Greenbelt.

We should also encourage the use of mixed-zoning in which we can have lots of varying size in these and other areas. Thus, rather than having a single zoning classification – such as RS 25 [residential single-family, with lot sizes of 25,000 sq. ft.] – we could have a mixture; some lots would be RS 25, some RS 15, some RS 8. Having lots of all the same size serves to spread out geographically our population by income group – only a certain segment of the population can afford to buy in RS 25 neighborhoods, for instance. This restricts housing options for others and also encourages sprawl, as each part of ACC develops to serve a particular socio-economic group. Developing zoning practices that allow for mixed zoning – such as having an RS 8 lot next to an RS 25 one – would encourage mixed-income and mixed-use developments, thereby allowing more people to live close to the places they work. This should be combined with an Inclusionary Zoning ordinance (see # 3 below).

Overall, my vision for the Land-use plan would be to mirror the principles of the 19 th century Garden City movement. These Garden Cities were largely self-contained neighborhoods surrounded by greenbelts, and were planned to contain a mix of residences, economic activities, and green space (e.g., pocket parks). This movement aimed not only to achieve economic benefits by avoiding sprawl, but also to improve urban dwellers’ quality of life by providing parks and green space within the urban landscape. There is such a Garden City only a few miles from where I grew up in England, and the brilliance of such a model of urban development has always impressed me. Such a model mirrors the smart growth plans of today and can easily be achieved through slight tweaking of our current zoning ordinances.

The Land-Use Plan should serve to identify the areas of need in our community, as well as the likely focal points of future development and the necessary infrastructure required to control and sustain that development. As outlined above, the Land-Use Plan is the perfect tool to help steer inevitable development toward appropriate locations, encourage adaptive re-use of existing structures and develop a strategy to manage the inevitable impact on our infrastructure.

As we continue to grow in an effective manner, regional residents will increasingly seek our resources. By pro-actively determining the focal points of development, we can effectively protect many of the community assets that make Athens unique. These assets include our greenbelt, our tree canopy and the historic character of Athens. The Land-Use Plan is the key to managing our growth, as well as our ability to coexist with the broader region. The following questions provide a good opportunity to address facets of the plan as they pertain to key issues.

3. What will you do to increase the supply of accessible, affordable housing?

Certainly, we should secure our share of federal/ state housing dollars. Locally, we must address affordable housing from two directions: increasing its quantity and improving access to it. Concerning the first, we should: 1) work with the Athens Land Trust, East Athens Development Corporation, and others to increase the stock of affordable housing, especially close to where people work; 2) pass an “Inclusionary Zoning” ordinance requiring inclusion of below-market rate units in new developments, perhaps in exchange for a density bonus (this encourages mixed-income neighborhoods and avoids the stigma accompanying “affordable housing,” as no one can tell which units are the “affordable” ones); 3) to the extent allowed by law, support a “linkage fees” program wherein developers of non-residential and market-rate residential developments pay an impact fee which is put into a trust for building affordable housing; 4) explore using public dollars to help poorer residents repair their homes, so preventing deterioration to the point they become uninhabitable; 5) continue supporting “home ownership” classes funded by Community Block Development Grants and EADC whereby people learn about getting credit ratings in order, etc; 6) encourage infill development, especially of “starter homes” like “Katrina cottages” (this would require addressing some zoning issues, as we currently have no appropriate zoning for such cottages); 7) to the extent allowed by law, encourage an “in remittance” program (when I worked for the NYC Housing Department we had such a program; if landlords failed to pay their taxes the properties were taken to settle the debt and federal/ state dollars used to renovate them for homeless/ low-income residents); 8) make it easier for renters to find suitable accommodation, such as by working with the Athens Residential Rental Property Association to provide informational assistance and supporting a “landlord-tenant mediation board,” as exists in other cities (e.g., Alexandria, VA).

We must diversify our employment by encouraging local small business start-ups and attracting clean jobs here. This will require working closely with the Economic Development Foundation and partnering with neighboring counties to provide a regional development approach. We need a more expansive understanding of “economic development.” Although creating higher-paying jobs is clearly important, there are other ways of empowering people economically. Two worth exploring are: 1) encouraging “Local Economic Trading Systems,” coordinated through a non-profit, whereby people with skills but little income can barter such skills and improve their lives (this is often done informally in places like Appalachia, where a plumber may fix a neighbor’s piping in exchange for the neighbor fixing the plumber’s roof); 2) developing “local currency” systems wherein businesses and individuals agree to accept “coupons” representing a certain amount of work time (usually an hour) in exchange for goods and services (see www.ithacahours.com). These coupons have real value because they can be used to purchase things, while local businesses profit because they know these coupons can only be spent locally. An “Athens Hours” program could stimulate local businesses by ensuring that wealth in all its many forms remains within the county, providing an economic multiplier.

Affordable and accessible housing isa keen interest of mine. My work in the field of disability rights particularly focuses on issues of housing and the impact a lack of quality, accessible housing has on our citizens. Issues of accessibility are not linked only to the disabled, as our appeal as a retirement community brings a growing aging population to Athens. As the co-chair of the housing portion of the Land-Use Plan revision process currently underway, I am aware of the importance of this issue.

Truly affordable housing requires specific economic factors that are notably absent in much of Athens-Clarke County. Particularly, a good supply of land suitable for development is key to affordable housing. In Athens, we have an extremely limited geographic area, leading to high land prices. Much of the recent demand for high-end townhouses, condos and infill development is targeted to wealthy UGA students. There are few areas in Athens-Clarke priced to accommodate development of affordable, independent housing. Rising commodities prices have driven materials costs sky-high. In my course of work, I routinely see average-grade construction costs approaching $100 a square foot. Added to high land costs, this is a significant impediment to the development of houses priced in the $80-100,000 range within Athens-Clarke County.

How then do we meet our acknowledged need for affordable housing? Two components will be necessary. The first will be in conjunction with the development strategy outlined in Question 2. Utilization of the Land-Use Plan to identify key areas to encourage growth, when supported by government programs such as Tax Allocation Districts and Transferable Development Rights, will facilitate development the free-market would ordinarily circumvent. In short, the government will have to provide incentive and encouragement to stimulate creative thinking and development of affordable housing. We have the Land-Use Plan process, we have a TAD program and we will soon have a TDR program. Jointly, these tools can help address this area of need, either through density changes, creative planning or tax deferment programs.

4. How will you balance the interests of the community as a whole and the interests of individual property owners when making land use decisions?

This is always a difficult issue, as the apparent interests of the community and of individuals (even the same individual in two different situations) may differ, depending upon the specific situation. So, with that caveat, my position is that, generally speaking, I believe that the needs of the many must outweigh those of the few, although the interests of the few cannot be lightly discounted. Private rights should be protected up to the point at which they conflict with the community interest, at which point it is the job of government to protect the community interest. In my opinion, the job of government is to look after the Public good. Property rights are relational – what I do on my property has an impact on your property, therefore you should have some say in how I use mine. Such matters are typically handled via our system of government, which passes zoning rules, land-use ordinances, etc. that reflect the will of the people. If the will of the people changes then that will be reflected in the composition of the local government. At the same time, though, there must be a compelling reason for government to interfere in your rights. It should not do so willy-nilly. We have to decide as a community, then, what are the compelling reasons for government to intervene in people’s affairs. That is part of the nature of a democracy. As a community, I believe we have stated quite clearly that there are certain things which we favor, such as protecting our Greenbelt, tree canopy, and stream buffers, establishing certain design standards with regards to buildings and developments, and so forth.

I do think, though, that government must also play a role in educating the public as to why it has a vested interest in pursuing the public good, so that actions do not appear to be high-handed or vindictive. There has been a discourse inculcated in the past 30 years or so concerning government “takings” of private property rights. I would seek to redress this by also talking about the ways in which government frequently engages in property “givings” – as when a new road is built using public funds which increases people’s property values. There is a developing legal philosophy which argues that government has a right to regulate land-use if any part of the value of that land is based upon government actions (e.g., through government’s provision of access to it by building of roads). It is a philosophy with which I am in agreement.

We presently have a more balanced system than many communities. Athens places a unique emphasis on community input and the community voice. Every individual is currently afforded an opportunity to influence the direction we take as a whole and it is imperative that we maintain that standard. This is a complex issue, one that challenges every community. I am grateful for the multiple opportunities for involvement Athens affords.

5. How would that balance impact the local environment?

I would see one of my central goals as protecting the environment. Indeed, I have already proven my commitment to this by serving on the ACC citizen committees that developed the tree ordinance and the 75ft buffer ordinances recently adopted by the Commission. In terms of the balance between public and private rights, there would have to be a really good reason to impinge on the Greenbelt or our stream buffers, one which I cannot envision right now. Furthermore, I believe that since developers would be getting a private benefit by being allowed to do so, they should at the very least provide some kind of public recompense. This should come in the form of impact fees.

Such an impact fee program relates more broadly to land-use and environmental matters than just the Greenbelt and stream buffers, though. I have found, through my service on the ACC Hearings Board and ACC Planning Commission, that although sometimes it makes sense to allow developers a variance on particular matters – such as the ACC requirement to construct sidewalks fronting the street on new developments – when this occurs these developers gain an economic benefit that others do not enjoy. This is because they are simply granted the variance – the choice is to grant it or not. As a way to ameliorate this situation, I would like to see a sidewalk bank established into which an impact fee, equivalent to what it would otherwise have cost a developer to build the sidewalk, is placed in exchange for the variance. Such impact fees are legal, though there is some debate as to whether sidewalks can be included. However, I certainly think this is worth pursuing. It relates to the question above, though, in several ways: 1) it treats all developers equally, leveling the playing field; 2) it prevents the necessity of forcing developers to build, for instance, sidewalks in places where there may be good reason not to (e.g., to protect tree roots), thereby protecting the environment; and 3) it means that developers must contribute to the general good even as they secure a private benefit.

Balancing this issue is the key component of protecting our environment. We have spoken as a community and moved to protect our environmental resources from uncontrolled development. By enacting proactive stream buffers to protect our watershed, by protecting undeveloped areas of our Greenbelt and by emphasizing the importance of our tree canopy we have identified the characteristics that most attract people to Athens and taken steps to preserve them for future generations.

The limitations we have imposed to protect our resources have consequently impacted land-owners. Since we have limited their rights in exchange for the importance of preserving our environmental resources, our community must develop a mechanism to equally compensate currently impacted property-owners. Both of these ideals are important, and must be part of the development of a long-term plan to utilize and protect our resources.

6. What are Athens-Clarke County’s transportation issues and how will you deal with them?

The main issue is how to expand transportation options. It is unrealistic of us to expect that people will give up their cars entirely, and some never will even partially. However, there is a broad range of options between these two. We must increase the transportation choice our citizens enjoy if we are to protect our environmental resources as we grow. Providing transportation options is not only good for the environment by reducing fossil fuel use, but it is also central to allowing people to empower themselves by taking control of their economic lives. An inability of citizens – especially our poorest – to access employment opportunities due to lack of transportation options means they become entrapped in neighborhoods, with significant consequences for impacted poverty. This inability was an important deficiency in our community identified by the Partners for a Prosperous Athens process.

There are several things we must do as a community if we are both to protect our environmental resources and begin to address issues of impacted poverty:

1) Extend bus service geographically. This includes working with neighboring counties to allow ACC buses to travel on the Loop from the Eastside to the mall and to develop a better regional mass transportation system, so that fewer people will drive into Athens. We should also increase hours of operation, so that people may utilize mass transit more frequently and easily.

2) Build our new roads in such a way as to accommodate multiple modes of transportation, and retrofit others where practical.

3) Support the rails-to-trails program, both as a way of reducing traffic and as an economic development tool (such a by marketing Athens as friendly to nature walkers and cyclists).

4) Increase the funding for sidewalks, combining that with a sidewalk bank. Ensure sidewalks are wheelchair friendly, as are crosswalks.

5) If the park-and-ride lot funded by the federal transportation earmark is to come to the Eastside, then I think it would make sense to combine this with the GDOT reworking of the Loop at Lexington Rd. If we could secure additional federal funding it would be great to build a people-mover to take commuters from the lot into the multimodal center downtown. As a student in Morgantown, WV, I saw how that city’s “Personal Rapid Transit” people-mover worked to move students from downtown out to an outlying campus. Miami also has a people-mover. Why can’t we?

6) Encourage UGA to run campus bus services to the neighborhoods where many of the UGA students live (I have already suggested this to a number of UGA officials).

7) Build bike lanes where practical. Although I am a firm believer that every citizen has a right to use all public infrastructure like roads equally, the reality is that with a limited budget we must choose where our top priorities are for bike lanes. I believe it makes sense at this time to focus upon linking the campus/ downtown area with the urban and suburban neighborhoods where most residents live.

Development and management of our transportation system must proceed with a long-range vision that accommodates the needs of our region as a whole. Athens-Clarke will continue to develop as the regional economic hub and we must make forward-thinking transportation choices that facilitate that process, controlled within the parameters of a community vision.

Our community vision clearly articulates a move towards mass transportation as well as traditional means such as facilitated walking and biking. Our environment clearly cannot continue to sustain the auto-centric mindset that guided the development of our transportation infrastructure throughout the 20 th century. Outlying counties will continue to outpace Athens-Clarke in population growth, with increasing impact as those residents seek our employment and service opportunities. We must facilitate a system to effectively move commuters in and out of Athens without dumping more and more cars on our already insufficient roadways. We cannot continue widening roads to reactively accommodate increased traffic. Inherent in this long-range plan must be a system of efficient inter-city connections, facilitated by mass-transit options such as light commuter rail. For example, such a light rail system could eventually extend to I-85 in Jackson County, serving the commuter needs of the “bedroom communities,” without increasing auto traffic in Athens.

7. Does more need to be done to safeguard Athens-Clarke County’s environment and natural resources? If so, what? If not, why not?

Yes. One of the things that we need to better address is runoff from impermeable surfaces, especially as our city grows. There are a number of ways to do this, including green roofs and building “Country Lanes” (as in Vancouver) in which access alleys are constructed using two narrow strips of concrete with grass between them, rather than paving the entire alley. I am open to encouraging use of permeable concrete, although from what I understand there are still some technical issues with making this as effective as it could be (I am hopeful that in the coming years these issues would be sorted out). Making our surfaces more permeable will reduce the need for retention ponds and swales, thereby allowing us to use our land more efficiently (and so preventing further sprawl). I also think that we need to have good enforcement of our environmental regulations, including concerning runoff from building sites. In this regard, I would support additional funding for the Community Protection Division (CPD), whose job it is to enforce our runoff ordinances.

As a member of the ACC Stormwater Citizens Advisory Committee tasked by Mayor Davison and the Commission with developing a means to meet the requirements of our National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, I have had practical experience in developing a program that is both fair and effective in addressing issues of stormwater (and hence avoiding the soil erosion and other negatives that comes with flooding). As part of this, I think that ACC needs also to play a greater role in maintaining drainage easements on private property. The County, in fact, used to do this years ago. Many private landowners do not maintain these easements, with negative consequences for all. If the landowner is unwilling to maintain such easements, I think that ACC should be allowed to clear them out and the landowner billed for the service.

Absolutely. We must continue the move towards preservation, protection, and restoration of our environment and natural resources. There is no question that we have dramatically impacted the quality of our environment. One need only read William Bartram’s accounts of his early travels in this area to highlight that impact. Our rivers that are now choked with sediment once ran clear. Numerous aquatic, avian and land species have disappeared from our environment. Driven by development, we have systematically polluted, altered and destroyed the balance of our ecosystem.

Decimation of our natural environment is the single greatest threat not only to our quality of life, but to our lives themselves. We need to continue leading the way with progressive leadership that addresses our environment in conjunction with the inevitable growth we will continue to experience.